Financial information data provider Markit, acquired QulC Financial Technologies, a Canadian risk analytics firm.
QulC tests market and credit risk tolerance in financial portfolios for clients and can simulate risk at the enterprise level. Markit maintains several leading indices, notably those that track asset-backed securities. Markit, for example, powers a Fannie Mae coupon stack aggregate. QulC’s 105 employees will join the Markit payrolls.
Markit is faced with growing demand for solutions in measuring risk, the company said in a statement. By purchasing QulC, the firm will provide a service that combines its data and valuations with QulC’s analytics expertise.
The integrated platform "will be well-positioned to offer a comprehensive solution for risk-related services spanning independent pricing, valuations and analytics across asset classes," the statement said.
QulC will become part of Markit’s valuations and analytics services unit. Services to its current clients will not stop.
Markit’s data set, which spans credit default swaps, bonds, loans, equities, commodities and rates will be inputted into the QulC Engine, the name of the framework that powers QulC services.
"The field of risk analytics continues to grow at an accelerated pace and presents some very interesting opportunities ," said Markit CEO Lance Uggla. "By acquiring one of the leading providers of risk analytics, [we] will gain significant enterprise risk management capabilities which will allow us to provide our customers with the comprehensive solutions they require to identify and manage risk."
Markit's combined valuations and analytics services will fall under the direction of Executive Vice President Sal Naro.
Jacob Gaffney is the editor of HousingWire.
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Jacob Gaffney is the Editor-in-Chief of HousingWire and HousingWire.com. He previously covered securitization for Reuters and Source Media in London before returning to the United States in 2009. While in Europe for nearly a decade, he covered bank loans and the high yield market, in addition to commercial paper, student loan, auto and credit card space(s). At HousingWire, he began focusing his journalism on all aspects of the housing and mortgage markets.